The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-11-20
GOOD sroRLEs or THE PRESENT .DAE
How . Mas Acts when he Knows he IL Ge-
Ing to Die q Violent Death.


/. ine that he must die violent death within an
hour, he will, II he has strong imagination.
turn pale and tremble In q moment. Tho
knowledge that one Is to bO shot or hanged or
beheaded at such an hour must DO terrible
strain on tho mans nerves, and no doubt the
arrival OF tho last moment IL n relief.
I have had the care OF condemned men IN
many cases. and have had opportunities to
Judge Of their feelings and read their thoughts
1t Is q fact which l never saw stated In print.
and yet which knew to be true. that when
criminal has been convicted and there Is no
longer any thread on which to hang hope. he
passes into state OF positive relief and salts
faction. He has fought tho evidenco-hoped'
feared, worried, nnd-lost. Tho Judge pro-
nounces sentence. his lawyer tells him that
the last effort has boon exhausted, and tho
man returns to his cell to throw himscii upon
his cot and weep and trcmble and curse. Hall
hour Of ths and 3, ssas tSnt death 10
good .natnred. A condemned man generally
Tor death. The ilrst month is chara cterized BY
tine sentiments l have named. ne thGn pc, DC,
I Suddenly demand to see his lawyer and want
new effort made to save his life.
named ie C res The day watch was kept by
oeesE the peft y T6 her, reader ,sa
day S man is condemned to tho day he is ex-
ecuted he is constantly under the eyes of
Sn TitSn su rH @hs might G
possible chance OF escape. there are dozen
By taking his own n life. The death watch, while
matter of necessity. is certainly the refine refine
another every minute and hour for eight or ten
weeks,.,that the sentinel represents the gal "a,
the hangnlan nrrives-thcse things have driven
men mad. Uresswell had seventy days to live
and ho was cheerful even to the point of being
Jolly He took calendar OF the year ia and 1a ent
put tho dates from SEPT to the da Inn ne %as 10
the wall As the figures were large they made
line nearly the, length Of his wall and ne
isfaction and said: ,,,, ,.-
That's z long time-a long time Why it's
Each day. as he arose in the morning, no
pulled one q The dates down. ana the
sulIen. and knew from his demeanor what he
Thinking about The Aft 1.-THE GuGhs sn WAS or
q q strong prison: Wiz T dozen door, doors ana
deah waeS seated at his door with revolver
at hand. could harbor the idea OF escape Tor
days 1T time r did 6oys as ne
others. He planned to call me into his b cell;
knock me senseless and then possess himself
The my he s' would call all the guard from gate
ten feet away, and tell him that had ia! len
in % ae aSn HarrGs wS%s
When he left she PsSn he
u Until the % first hue and cry was over He
call for provisions at midnight and after re;
manning IN the garrett for month ne would
hand. He had everything figured out as
h string na had Hs he bs
mind for week. and, then abandoned it fora
better one. You smile at the absurdity OF 1t,
Cresswell based his second plan on the idea
that slept during great share OF my watch.
cell. descend to the basement. and then make
his ESCAPE by wrenchinC OF some Of the bars
%a on * k E HE hs
been removed from his cell, but one night he
crept carefully out of bed to begin work on the
he been. master Of a crowbar and half a day in
which to work he could not have loosened the
Was be stS IN T esmens; heard him Stirring
and looked into his cell, and his surprise and
really e Then he
his plans on tho ground that the difficulty Of
oyetcoming me was too great. .
q after aocoas
he had entered the house Of q widow for the
purpose. Of robbery; She had been alarmed.
the s
The Jury were not out over quarter OF an
Now note what an idea he got into his head.
psrs y9has ha a0%
recorded the act. and ior q few days he was a
hero in his native village # now sSSddenly
Call q (fOyernOr
Of his, and the result would be Executive Glenn
sney He might not be pard9ned but his SEN an
hope he believed In It for fully week, and
latter ] he heard &d1 his s's
sSsd @qf tit as aat idea S Se
better 4 You prepare 70 for DEATH"
.Il Ht think Mnf il y Over r."
vol. that 4 would do no good to hang m ;,i
make 81 cents day of, my work. Just figure
much would earn The Governor can't help
liz was buoyod up with this hope for about
week, and every day he expected to receive
the death watch on, him, declaring that must
woa a ID probably seek to prejudice the Governor
gently on every point IL ID inc III dTiaple Tulo
In every prison to treat a prisoner con-
demned to death with tho utmost gentle-
ness compatible with safety He has cer-
tain privileges and receives many little favors
softer and In many eases the death watch hu;
day. CressHell finally abandoned his idea Of
Communication. but in a day or two had new
hobby. He suddenly remembered that one of
his ancestors died in lunatic asylum. There
was the keynote to his case, He should have
made a plea Of insanity, There was no doubt
that he was laboring under an attack Of insan-
ity when he killed the widow. Indeed, he
lawyer must appeal the case to the highest
court in the land on the ground that new evil
dence had been discovered. He sent for tho
attorney. and he good-naturedly came. He
told the prisoner frankly that he could do
nothing, and was then charged with having
sold his influence to the State.
AS the days went by CressMell got other
strange notions into his head His long string
OF dates on the wall began to visibly. shorten,
but after his first alarm he consoled himself
with the reflection that he had made u mistake
and taken down two for one. He got this idea
one Saturday. and insisted that It was only
Monday. He would listen to no argument or
reason. but insisted that wanted to have him
hanged five or six days before his time. Like
all other condemned criminals he had thoughts
q suicide. have watched with no less than